Arsenal also-rans? No, insists Wenger but the gap is widening

By MATT LAWTON

Last updated at 11:56 20 November 2006

Arsenal 1 Newcastle 1

Another Premiership point was, as Kieron Dyer can testify, better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

But a Premiership point that lifted Newcastle out of the bottom three was of little use to Arsenal when Manchester United and Chelsea won and probably left Arsene Wenger regretting the decision to omit Thierry Henry from his starting line-up.

Wenger remained philosophical about a result that leaves his side battling among the also-rans in the title race. Perhaps because he knows that his young side are not quite ready to mount a serious championship challenge.

This was their fourth 1-1 draw at home in the Premiership this season and it once again exposed the frailties of a side who, in the absence of Henry and with the exception of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, had an average age of 23.

When faced with a Newcastle team inspired by the gritty determination of Scott Parker and Nicky Butt and lifted by Dyer's terrific first-half goal, Arsenal lacked the necessary wisdom to outwit opponents who unleashed just two shots to Arsenal's 19.

Wenger said: "You do not always get what you expect from a game. But when a team is young it will adjust its focus and concentration on the difficulty it expects to encounter.

"To be successful at the very top level you have to have some important ingredients. Patience, a rigorous attitude defensively. Today we lacked patience and gave too much freedom to their forwards, especially in the first half."

Wenger defended his decision to keep Henry on the bench until a crunching challenge from Butt left Robin van Persie nursing what looked like a nasty foot injury.

The Arsenal manager said his captain was exhausted after playing 90 minutes for France in midweek and needed a break ahead of a critical Champions League clash against Hamburg.

But he dismissed the suggestion that his side's title challenge was over. "It's difficult now but it's not impossible," he said.

"Every time our rivals win and we do not win, we get asked the same question as to whether the championship is over. I don't know. I don't think so. But it is vital that we win the next game.

"If you want to play for Arsenal and want to give up in November, I don't know what you are doing here. We have won championships with that kind of distance before and teams can slip up as well."

Newcastle supporters, who enjoyed the highs and lows of the Kevin Keegan era, know that only too well, but those days have been replaced by more anxious times.

At the Emirates Stadium, at least, there was more reason to be cheerful, the return of Dyer and Shay Given bringing much-needed class to a team badly underperforming under the guidance of Glenn Roeder.

Dyer was outstanding in what was his first start for seven months after a litany of injury problems that included a particularly nasty collision between an eye socket and a training ground slalom pole.

On Saturday he did a far better job of avoiding Arsenal's defenders, a jinking run that made fools of Emmanuel Eboue and Gael Clichy ending with a super curling shot that flew beyond Lehmann.

"We've really missed Kieron," said Given, who then made a succession of stunning saves to protect Newcastle's lead and was beaten only when Henry's magnificent 70th-minute free-kick crashed home via the underside of the crossbar.

Roeder insisted that he and his team are coping with the pressure. "The experience I had at West Ham has helped me," he said. "When I was criticised I took it quite personally and that was wrong. Then I realised it could have been anyone in that job. That has helped me to handle any sort of criticism that comes my way."

Some he received during this clash was very personal and extremely distasteful. "Sit down, Tumour Boy," was how he was greeted by a section of Arsenal fans behind the Newcastle dug-out, prompting a junior member of Roeder's staff to turn round and shake his fist when Dyer scored.

That was reported by a fan to a steward — very much a case of dishing it out but not being able to take it — but Roeder shrugged off the abuse with dignity.

"When I was captain at QPR, Terry Venables always told me to concern myself only with the criticism I received from people I respected," he said.

"If a supporter is critical of a brain tumour I had three and a half years ago, I wouldn't respect him anyway."

Quite right too.

EURO WATCH

GROUP G: Arsenal v Hamburg. Tomorrow 7.45pm. Live on ITV4.

Defeat could be disastrous for Arsenal with one point separating the top three.

But Hamburg are struggling and Saturday's 0-0 draw with bottom club Mainz leaves them three places off the bottom. Rafael van der Vaart, Holland's scorer against England, is a threat.